Necco Slap Stix Caramel

Way back in the ancient days of the 1920s the Stark Candy Company of Milwaukee (well, Pewaukee to be exact) made an innovative little candy called the Snirkle (photo here). There were a couple of varieties but it was basically a swirled caramel & taffy pop. (They were also sold as individual pieces without the stick.)

Later in the 60s, when the whole world was going day-glow with color TV, Stark came out with the Slap Stix. It was based on the original and popular Snirkle, only this pop was a swirl of vanilla, cherry & banana taffy inside a caramel pop. The Slap Stix are made to this day and come a variety of sizes, a little .7 ounce variety and this attractive 2 ounce version.

Stark, who also made a conversation heart product, sold their company to Necco in 1990. Necco recently closed the Pewaukee Stark Candy Factory but transferred production to their Revere, Mass plant.

The pop is about the size of a business card and doesn’t really make a slapping sound when thwapped against a hard surface. But it does okay when smacked against the palm.

The pop smells sweet and caramelly. The caramel outside is rather firm, like a Milk Maid Caramel but has slightly more “pull” to it. Once bitten there’s a strong banana flavor. I didn’t really notice the cherry layer at first, but later on there’s a slight bitter aftertaste and a slight cherry flavor. The banana and caramel go well together, the chew is substantial and not too sweet. I could use a little hint of salt in there and would probably prefer strawberry to cherry. It’s not a slick & smooth caramel like a fresh Sugar Daddy, more like Laffy Taffy on a stick.

It’s a fun and really attractive treat. I found it a bit overpriced at $1.25 at Cost Plus World Market, but I’m sure they’re around for a bit less if you look carefully.

I don’t know why Necco doesn’t make the Snirkle any longer. It’s such a great name.

I just came across these at my local Denver Big Lots store, along with the trays of Goetze’s bullseyes for 50 cents each. And for that price, they are well worth it for some fun caramely experimentation.

Great bit - great candy! I love these. There’s a discount store near my house that sells them for .15 a piece. My kids love ‘em. As to Susan’s question - there’s a place in Milwaukee that has a website where you can order anything and have it shipped anywhere. All kinds of awesome old candy. halfnuts.com

Once upon a time (and a very good time it was) Stark made Candy Raisins. Necco continued production of these for a short time after they closed the Pewaukee factory but, since the market for these was geographically limited to Southeast Wisconsin, they stopped production a few years ago. I’ll never forgive them for that.

They didn’t really taste like raisins. It was a mild, citrus-y, slightly soapy flavor, but they were addictive as hell. (I think they may have been pectin jellies, too, but I might be wrong.)

It doesn’t pop up in a search result list. It’s a pity you didn’t get to review these…

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Please do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes.